The Lotus' Blossom
by keiranhalcyon2010
Summary: The Avatar has returned. Aang emerges into war-torn world to find his people gone. Now he must master the elements and restore balance with help from his friends and allies, some of whom appear from the most unlikely places.
1. Chapter 1 Omashu

_A/N: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon. Not me. I felt like a dive into fantasy for a bit. It is also partially a reimagination of the series in the vein of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, with an OC being the Rationalist of Aang's group. It cuts out the cartoony elements obviously, along with adopting a more realistic timeline of events, and will deal with the reality of a war. Enjoy._

**Chapter 1**

**City of Omashu**

**Earth Kingdom**

**23rd Day, 2nd Lunar Month, 99 ASC (After Sozin's Comet)**

The sword sliced through the air, heading straight for Captain Ye's neck. Without even thinking, Ye turned his left wrist, flipping his bladed staff upward. The centre of the other blade collided with the end of Ye's with a metallic clang that echoed off the stone walls. Then Ye brought the other side of the staff down, and his opponent nimbly dodged backwards whilst fending off the strike. He pressed the attack, spinning his staff so quickly it was near a blur to the untrained eye. His heart pounding faster against his ribs, Ye whipped his staff up and over, intending to strike his foe's forehead.

The sword came up, blocking the strike, then pressed forward, sending Ye stumbling back a few steps. Ye knew his foe well and therefore was acutely aware how difficult a victory would be. The two warriors circled each other, staring face-to-face only a body length apart. Ye held his staff at an angle, his left hand gripping it tightly at chest level, his right hand's grip light and ready to snap the weapon in any direction for defense.

His opponent had his blade ready and angled across his own chest. Again, his foe swung at his left side. Again, Ye blocked the strike with ease, and his opponent whipped the sword to probe his right side defense as fast as striking snake. Ye dodged by a swift step backwards, whipping the staff's right blade to deflect and in the same movement redirect the momentum, whilst the left blade swung around, angling into his foe's neck.

It forced his opponent to retreat with a backwards roll, opening up the space between them again. Ye had no intention of allowing that breathing room, so charged forward, surging the left blade of his staff. Probing. His foe was already on his feet and parrying. Ye pushed on the sword on the moment of impact, snapping his leg up for a kick aimed at his opponent's opposite leg. The foe deflected the kick with his own leg, and snapped his out of position sword forward to attack Ye's face with the hilt.

He ducked his head and brought the staff up to stop the blow. They were still very close and none of their blades were of use here, so Ye brought his knee up into his foe's groin. That area was well armored of course, but Ye's main interest was in putting some distance between them, and all men, even women, would back off instinctively after receiving such a blow, regardless of actual damage.

Again, the pair faced off. Ye's foe came from the right, swinging the sword in a tight arc, leaving him very little time to parry. In one fluid motion, he swung the staff up to block the strike and bring his foe's sword down.

His foe smiled. "Well done, Ye. You're back to fighting form."

"Thank you Captain," he carefully stepped back, remaining in horse stance. He would not relax until Captain 1ST Rank Wu Jing had sheathed that beautiful sword.

Wu Jing grinned in appreciation at the sight of his vigilance. "Good to see that the boring garrison duty hasn't dulled you."

Ye had to stop himself from rolling his eyes in annoyance. The Captain knew full well that guarding the border of occupied Fire Nation territory was no picnic, especially near the Pass of Yu Mei which led to one of the largest coal mines in the northern territories, coal which the Fire Nation would love to get their greedy hands on to further fuel their war machine.

Ye had been sent as part of a contingent of troops from Omashu to reinforce the lines there, and had spent the last three months driving back the Fire Nation to the old defense lines. It had infuriated Ye that they had not further pressed their advantage, instead the order had come through to simply man the old fortifications, with expert Earthbenders building new ones and to hold the line. He had been so astonished at the order that he had not been mindful of his position and cover, and that was all it had taken for a lucky Firebender to send him to the healing tent with heavy burns on his left arm. The only reason he hadn't lost it, was the sheer luck that King Bumi had also sent along a few Healers from the Water Tribe contigent in the city.

They both bowed to each other and headed out of the tiered dueling arena towards the City Guard Headquarters. It was a beautiful sunny day outside, the streets filled with people pretty much going about their daily lives, merchants shouting about their wares, the grinding sound of stone on stone that resonated occasionally as the city wide sloping delivery system, operated by Earthbenders, continued it's never ending work. Added to the view beyond the city walls of the surrounding mountains it was very picturesque, and very difficult to believe that there was a War going on.

He and the Captain had barely walked into the tall imposing building, bedecked in the light brown and green heraldry of the Earth Kingdom, when they were intercepted by a young Guardsman.

"Captains!" the young man bowed, his uniform of green and yellow resplendent and perfect as it should be. "Message from the Palace, there is an urgent summons for Captain 3rd Rank Ye. He is to report to King Bumi at once."

"Thank you, Guardsman," Ye replied. The young man bowed again and sped off into the direction of the barracks. "Wonder what the King wants?"

"He can't want you to resume your place as part of his bodyguard, surely? Your talent is wasted in the city."

"I agree, but if the King commands…" Ye shrugged helplessly before executing a quarter bow to his superior. "If you will excuse me, Captain. I must clean up."

"Good luck, my friend," Wu Jing abandoned formality and clasped his childhood friend's forearm.

"Thanks."

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It had taken him twenty minutes to clean up and put on a fresh forest green uniform and armor. He did not bring his staff, as the current Palace Guard wouldn't allow it, even if he had counted himself among their number in the past. He emerged from the Headquarters and begun the upward journey to the Palace.

Omashu was a city of up hills. If you wanted to go anywhere important, you had to walk up the steep streets that in some cases neared fifty degree inclines. Going back down to the Merchant quarters and other districts was almost just as perilous if not more so. It made assaulting the city a very tough prospect. Though, the citizens of Omashu could boast that they were fittest in the entire Earth Kingdom, if not the world. He was halfway to his destination when a strange sight greeted him, a collection of masons and Earthbenders were working repairing a number of roofs that looked like they had been mangled by a stone cart passing over the tiles. There was no way that a cart could normally jump the raised tracks that ran like veins throughout the city, unless an Earthbender managing the system somewhere had seriously bungled the job. Perhaps some young Earthbender had decided to take a cart for a joyride, which happened occasionally…though the punishment usually discouraged the young ones from trying.

He walked up the expansive steps to the main palace doors. Of course, there were actually no wooden doors on the palace exterior. It would be child's play for a skilled Firebender to blast such doors with intense flame and reduce it to ashes in minutes. So the doors were actually created on command out of the palace walls by the two Earthbenders on either side of the steps. Men he recognized, Li and Xe. They bowed to him in greeting before gesturing with clenched fists at the palace. The walls rumbled and came alive, and a perfect stone door formed, which swung open to admit him into the palace.

He traced the familiar path to the Throne room, noting how the décor had changed. King Bumi was the very definition of eccentric, and it showed in his palace. The King would often stroll about and bend the various statues and relief sculptures into strange poses, often he would even change them entirely into truly bizarre shapes. Ye had often kept himself busy in some of his boring duties in the Palace by simply trying to imagine different creatures and images in the shapes. The sculptures were remarkably like clouds in that fashion.

Again, there were no doors to the Throne Room, and this time a contingent of four benders stood guard and regulated access. They let Ye in only after checking to make sure he had no weapons. He tolerated the paranoia, as ever the Fire Nation sought to weaken from within if it couldn't conquer from without. Their spycraft was surprisingly good for a Nation who historically preferred brute force and power in all its affairs.

Ye entered the long throne room, it was remarkably ordinary as the King didn't like to expose any diplomatic visitors overly much to his eccentricity; a long green carpet leading all the way up to the throne, alcoves along the walls which housed Earth Kingdom heraldry, high windows which let in light during the day, and green prism crystals for illumination during the evening. King Bumi's high backed stone throne was perfectly formed, and two guards armed with pole axes always flanked him on either side. The King himself looked rather distracted, his wild white hair sticking up in all directions, and he tugged on his chin beard in his own version of deep contemplation – which was rather a disturbing sight given the King's lazy left eye and manic looking right eye. He was dressed in flowing robes of golden crested emerald green and a cap on top his head with long feathers elaborately weaved into looking like horns. Each finger adorned with a different color precious stone set in rings.

Ye stopped three body lengths away from the throne and knelt. "Your Majesty, I have come as summoned."

King Bumi was silent for a long few moments. "Eh? Oh, Captain Ye! Good to see you again."

"And you, your Majesty."

"Healing well?"

"I am mostly fully recovered, majesty. The fitness in my arm is all that remains to mend."

"Good. Very good. I want you take a place at my side tomorrow."

Ye felt his stomach sinking. "I'm rejoining the Palace Guard, my Liege?"

"Very briefly. You will be reassigned thereafter."

"May I enquire as to my new duties then?"

"You may as well hear it from me, as it's probably all over the palace by now. The Avatar arrived in Omashu today," the King said significantly. Ye promptly froze on the spot, his mind awhirl with astonishment. A careful look at the King's green eyes showed he was being uncommonly serious.

"The Avatar?" The one person in the world who could control and master all four elements, who was a bridge between mankind and the spirit world, the Avatar who had also mysteriously vanished more than a hundred years ago.

"One and the same," confirmed the King, "and it's the missing Avatar Aang, who hasn't aged a day apparently, since I last saw him."

Ye tried to pick his jaw up from the floor. "How is that possible?"

"Who knows with Avatars…but I will ask his companions, two young ones from the southern Water Tribe to judge from their clothing, perhaps they have a clue to this mystery."

"Interesting," Ye mused, "my new duties are related to the Avatar?"

"Yes Captain, all will be explained in due time, but first _it's been_ decided to test him before he is sent on his way. I want you to accompany me as I administer these tests."

"Very well, your Majesty."

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A rumbling reverberated throughout the circular room deep within the bowels of the Omashu Palace. The young thirteen year old boy sleeping on the three beds slowly opened his eyes, trying to dispel the fog of sleep. He was dressed in light brown pants tucked into dark brown leggings and shoes, with similar matching tunic and an earthy brown over vest that stretched to his elbows. His most eye catching features, that set him apart from the norm, was his bald head and a thick blue ornate tattoo in the shape of an arrow that started on his forehead, snaked over his head and down his back. The edges of similar arrow tattoos on the back of his hands were visible as well.

Aang blinked as his vision cleared, and the first realization that hammered into his brain was that he was alone. The other two beds in the room, which had contained his friends Katara and Sokka was empty.

"Sokka, Katara!" He whirled on his bed to regard the sight of an Omashu guard standing beyond the opening to the room. "Where are my friends?"

"The King will free them if you complete the challenges," the guard replied.

Aang hated to ask it but he had to know, "And…if I fail?" He got up from the bed.

"He didn't say, your staff please."

Aang hooked his toe under his ornate glider staff, kicked it up and caught it in the same motion, twirling it, before throwing it at the guard. He was escorted out and joined by another guard who led them out of the labyrinthine corridors on this level of Omashu Palace. They were led onto a stone platform, which was bended to ascend to a higher level and into the more common areas of the palace. They emerged into a long arched corridor where the King of Omashu stood waiting.

"Good morning, Avatar," the King smirked and gestured to himself, "I'm sure we're all eager to get started. So first, what do you think of my outfit? I want your honest opinion." The King was wearing a truly outrageous ornate purple robe with furred edges and white purple under-robe that completely hid his feet and trailed along the ground. Aang was momentarily stupefied at the question, and one of his guard escorts coughed in a suspicious manner. "I'm waiting."

Aang smiled uncertainly and replied in his best convincing manner, "I guess…its fine."

"Excellent," the King gestured grandly in appreciation. "You've passed the first test."

"Really?"

"Well, it's not one of the deadly tests," the King temporized. "The real challenges are much more…well…challenging."

Aang lost his patience at this moment and with a twist of will towards the air behind him, shot forward with extreme speed as the air pushed on his back. The backblast jostled the guards but Aang stopped a mere body length from the King. The air rushed back into equilibrium, which merely rustled the robes of the King. "I don't have time for your crazy games! Give me my friends back! We're leaving."

"Oh, I thought you might refuse. So I've decided to give your friends some special souvenirs." The King snapped his fingers to the wall on the left. The stone retreated into the floor to reveal another corridor and halfway down that was Sokka and Katara, both were in the clutches of yet more guards. Katara's blue robe jostled as she tried to escape but she just didn't have the strength, neither did her elder brother, Sokka.

Each guard rather roughly held out his friend's arms and put some form of crystal ring on their forefingers. "Those rings," the King pointed out with a smirk, "are made from pure genimite. Also known as creeping crystal. It's a crystal that grows remarkably fast, by nightfall your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible fate really. I can stop it, but _only_ if you cooperate."

Aang watched in horror as his friends were released. They both tried to get the crystal rings off, but no amount of effort worked, and already the crystal rings was slightly larger than before.

"Aaah," Sokka yelped, "it's already creeping."

Aang frowned in anger, there was no choice. "Fine, I'll do what you want."

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Captain Ye stood behind the two Water Tribe teenagers on the balcony in one of the secret caves underneath Omashu. It was here that melting snow runoff was channeled into a powerful waterfall. Most of the runoff was actually stopped in the higher levels to supply the city with drinking water, but the King had personally earthbent channels so the remaining water went into this cave for his own use. The cave floor and ceiling was filled with sharp stalactites and stalagmites, with the only flat ground being the starting position for this little challenge on the far side of the cave.

Ye remembered a long time ago when the King had decided to foist this test on him. It had not been easy at all, and he had done it as a young adult, let alone a thirteen year old. King Bumi stood nearest the railing and spoke quite normally to the Avatar, having no need to raise his voice due to the sound echoing all over the cave.

The King cackled in satisfaction. "It seems I've lost my lunchbox key and I'm hungry." He pointed a gnarled finger to the waterfall; a chain was hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the falling maelstrom of water. A mere length below that a ladder started and was anchored into the floor. "Oooh, there it is. Would you mind fetching it for me?"

The Avatar narrowed his eyes in determination before leaping of the starting point with the aid of a burst of air, jumping from stalagmite to stalagmite, flipping occasionally to push off with his hand and somersaulting, keeping his momentum going. It was an impressive display of acrobatics that only an Airbender could achieve. He surged from the stalagmite narrowing his small frame and shooting into the stream of water. Ye could see he had created an Air shield ahead of him, and was walking up the large stalagmite that led to the ladder. But the young Avatar had underestimated just how powerful that water was, and it was wearing on his shield.

"Oooh, climbing the ladder, no one's tried that before," the King commented sarcastically.

The young Airbender had barely gotten his hand on the first rung of the ladder before the shield failed and he was flung out of control by the powerful current. He quickly twirled in the air and went into a split between two stalagmites and desperately tried to stop himself from being impaled on another. He managed…just.

Ye breathed a silent sigh of relief, as did the two teenagers.

The next strategy the Avatar tried was to attack the problem from above. He jumped and propelled himself to hold on to the stalactites, and after carefully gauging his flight, fell and airbent into the waterfall to try and grab the key as he went down. He missed though and was again spat out by the current to crash into a stalagmite sideways, desperately grabbing a hold to stop himself sinking.

"That's right, keep diving head in," advised the King in jest, "I'm sure it'll work eventually."

The Avatar then seemed to notice something about the stalagmite he was clinging to and gave a beady eye to the key he needed to get. He sunk a bit more and then with a grunt of effort, aided by airbending, broke a piece of the sharp rock off, and jumped on top of the now flat perch he had created for himself. Another grunt of effort sent the improvised rock missile flying towards the chain, and it was followed by an airwave that increased its speed to a frightening velocity that even an Earthbender would struggle to match.

The chain was snapped instantly and snagged by the missile. Ye flinched as the missile impaled itself above their heads and dangled the key right in front of the King, who looked rather stupefied for a brief moment.

"There!" snapped the Avatar. "Enjoy your lunch. I want my friends back, now!"

"Uh-uh," the King admonished with a raised finger. "Not yet, I need help with another matter." The King put a mock sad expression on his face. "It seems I've lost my pet Flopsie."

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In yet another large domed chamber, this one with a flat pit, was a small, very cute, white animal with large ears that fell beyond its own body. The Avatar landed behind it with triumph. "Okay, found him."

"Bring him to me," the King demanded, whose voice turned cutesy. "Daddy wants a kiss from Flopsie." Ye struggled to master the impulse to laugh at the King's antics.

"Here Flopsie," the Avatar grinned, thinking this was going to be easy, as he snuck up to the small animal, totally oblivious to the huge animal sneaking up on his rear. It was only when the large animal that towered over the Avatar landed with a crash that he turned around. The small rabbit retreated with a squeak of fear, whilst the Avatar smiled at the huge Gorilla Goat that was eyeing him eagerly. It brought its huge hands together in a flash and tried to grab him.

Avatar Aang shot himself up into the air out of reach and flipped away, chasing after the small rabbit, whilst in turn being chased by the Gorilla goat.

"Flopsie wait!" The small long eared rabbit was too fast and disappeared into a small hole. The Avatar tried desperately to reach it, but the Gorilla goat was fast as well, mostly due to its huge strides. A notion seemed to strike him and he whirled to face the goat. "Flopsie?"

Just before the goat would've crashed into the Avatar it came to a dead stop and whined, wagging its tail. It gently picked up the Avatar, who was nevertheless startled, until it sloppily and eagerly licked him. "Flopsie!"

The King whistled and the Gorilla goat whirled, dropping the Avatar to come running toward them. Ye flinched as the goat climbed over the lip of the pit and promptly rolled over to have its belly scratched. In the past, he and the rest of the palace guard had often entertained the creature when the King was too busy otherwise. It was not an experience he wished to repeat.

By now the Avatar's two friends had most of their bodies encased in crystal, only their feet and head were visible. Aang noticed this and hurried over to the King to interrupt his petting session with Flopsie.

"Come on, I'm ready for the next challenge."

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Ye found himself having to carry both crystal encased children to the King's personal Earthbending Arena. It was largely featureless with only a single tier of stands around it and a single balcony looking over it with the symbol of the Earth Kingdom inscribed above.

"You kids okay?" he asked as he put them on down on their feet with a view of the arena.

"Other than the crystal slowly encasing my entire body, doing great," commented the girl sarcastically. Only their faces and feet were visible now.

"You've got the Avatar in your corner," Ye pointed out. "It's extremely unlikely that you will die."

"Aang's not exactly a fully trained Avatar," the older boy said.

"All Avatars have determination and they don't know how to quit," Ye retorted.

Avatar Aang stood on the edge of the balcony, looking out over the flat arena, which only the occasional rock sticking out of the floor. King Bumi appeared and cackled in a rather evil fashion. "Your final test is a duel and as a special treat you may choose your opponent. Point and choose."

Two huge gladiators appeared to flank the King. Ye coughed to hide his laugh. The muscular man with a perpetually nasty smile and a huge axe was known as Shanyan Ma. The champion on the right was a mammoth fighter who was armed with a double sided spear. He was called Renshu Chen and was an Earthbender as well, though not the most skilled in Omashu. The two men often dueled in exhibition matches whose main focus was more to demonstrate flashy elaborate moves that entertained a crowd than a serious fight.

The small Avatar was clearly intimidated. "So, you're saying whoever I point to, that's the person I get to fight?"

"Choose wisely," the old King admonished with a smirk.

"I choose…you," the Avatar's finger pointed at the King himself.

"Haha! Wrong choice."

King Bumi, with some effort, corrected his lumped posture and swiftly dumped his robes to reveal a surprisingly muscular physique for a man of his age. It was both a natural consequence of being an Earthbender. Benders aged much more slowly than non-benders, the King probably had another forty years of life left, and their physique were generally developed in line with their element, with Earthbenders being the most muscular. Bumi was now only dressed in formfitting green shorts and his foot stamped on the earth.

The Avatar's eyes widened in astonishment as the earth beneath him shot up under his feet and catapulted him into the arena. Bumi followed immediately and settled into a strong horse stance with eagerness. The King rarely got the opportunity to stretch his bending muscles.

Aang had recovered and the two opponents now stood on either ends of the arena.

"You thought I was a frail old man, but I'm the most powerful earthbender you'll ever see."

Aang smiled sheepishly, "Can I fight the guy with the axe instead?"

"There are no take-back-sees' in my kingdom. You might need this!"

The King gestured to Ye, who promptly threw the Airbender staff down towards the Avatar.

The instant it was within Aang's hands the King stamped his foot and a heavy rock raised into the air, a striking gesture followed, and the rock was shot with great speed towards the Avatar. Aang nimbly dodged it, but the King didn't let up and sent one rock after the other zooming downrange. The Avatar was hard pressed to dodge them all, but he barely managed.

"Typical Airbender tactic: avoid and evade. I'd hoped the Avatar would be less predictable," the King criticized. Another large boulder was launched at Aang forcing him to dodge and jump high into the air. "Don't you have any surprises for me? Sooner or later, you'll have to strike back."

The King launched another stone, but this one purposefully missed the Avatar and hit the ceiling, causing numerous dust and debris to fall on top of Aang. He coughed and fell to the floor rather messily and in the process lost his staff. He hurriedly got up grabbing his lost weapon, but the King was already attacking by stomping his feet as he walked; stone pillars erupted from the ground, blocking Aang's path and eventually he failed to dodge, receiving a blow to the gut. "Oh, you'll have to be a little more creative than that!"

Aang jumped off the pillar, twisting his hands and a ball of swirling air formed under him, picking up dust as it went. He rode it much like an Ostrich horse, but at great speed and even zoomed along the sides of the arena to avoid earthbending strikes from below. This gave him an opening on the King to launch a huge gale. It was easily blocked though when the King simply raised a thick earth shield.

The King emerged from behind it. "Did someone leave the windows open? It feels a little drafty in here! Are you hoping I'll catch a cold?"

Aang dropped off his airball, but the King had already kicked over the stone shield and began to raise it on earth dug out of the arena's surface. He shot the earth underneath the stone shield at Aang which knocked him over. The King followed it up with a fist smashing into the earth, sending a shockwave through the arena surface. The Avatar nimbly recovered and did a back flip to avoid the wave, landing close to the rear wall of the arena.

The King shook his head in wonder, "How are you going to going to get me from way over there?"

The Avatar frowned with determination and sprinted forward to his opponent. King Bumi smirked and used the side of his foot to dash the earth. The ground around Aang instantly became quicksand causing him to sink hip deep into arena floor. The King raised two boulders and sent them to smash the Avatar from two sides. Aang struggled to escape, but managed just in time with a concentrated air burst as the rocks smashed together.

Aang jumped straight at his opponent, unleashing a blast of wind that knocked the King and the stone sheet he stood upon back against the wall of the arena. The King raised one of the boulders from where he had just failed to crush Aang and pulled it back towards him at frightening speed. The Avatar saw it just in time and did a backflip that barely allowed him to get up and over the flying boulder.

This surprised the King as the boulder moved on to almost crush him, but he slapped his hands together and broke it into many pieces just as it reached him.

With tremendous effort, King Bumi tore a section of gate area of the arena out of the ground and held it over his head. Aang screamed in terror and began to run in circles, quickly creating a tornado. The King threw the massive earth mound forward, but the tornado grabbed it easily and threw it right back at him. As it reached King Bumi he bisected it neatly in two.

Aang appeared almost out of nowhere between the rock pieces and pinned the King with his staff. The King smiled and looked up. The Avatar also looked up as a little piece of rock bounced off his head. Overhead hovered one of the two halves of rock, ready to crush them both.

"Hehe! Well done, Avatar. You fight with much fire in your heart." The King threw the huge rock to the side of the arena where it landed with a loud crash. Next he simply fell backwards and the earth opened to swallow him whole. The Avatar was flabbergasted for a moment at the strange move, but understood once he saw movement on the balcony overhead as the King twirled up, out of the floor.

Aang promptly span his staff into a fast blur so that the air carried him up to the balcony as well.

The King grinned now with a pleasant expression on his face. "You've passed all my tests. Now, you must answer one question."

"That's not fair!" The Avatar was indignant. "You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests."

"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?

"Oh come on!"

"Answer this one question and I will set your friends free. What is my name?" The King eyed the two crystal encased teens, whose faces were all that was left exposed. "From the looks of your friends, I'd say you only have a few minutes." Ye brought over the King's robes and a towel as the Avatar and his two friends hurriedly tried to figure out what the name of the King actually was. Sokka's suggestion of 'Rocky' was rather unimaginative.

"I've got it! I know who you are!" The Avatar declared with triumph, smiling at the King. "As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities." King Bumi laughed and snorted something he had stopped doing by the end of his childhood, as it wouldn't be seemly for a King to laugh in such a manner at a diplomatic function. "Bumi, you're a mad genius!" The Avatar rushed forward and Ye's heart shot in his throat as his trained instincts screamed at him to stop Aang. He mastered the impulse though as the two childhood friends embraced enthusiastically.

"Oh, Aang. It's good to see you. You haven't changed a bit. Literally." The King ruffled the Avatar's smooth head affectionately.

"Uh! I hate to interrupt…" Katara mentioned uncomfortably.

"A bit of help please…" Only Sokka's mouth was visible at this point.

The King broke his hug from Aang and gave a simple pulling gesture. The genimite crystal shattered into pieces and fell off the two teenagers. The King caught a piece of crystal and bit into it with relish.

"Genimite is made of rock candy. Delicious!"

"So this crazy king is your old friend, Bumi?" Katara asked in wonder

"Who are you calling old?" The King thought about it. "Okay, I'm old."

"Why did you do all this instead of just telling Aang who you were?" Sokka asked reasonably.

"First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people," the King laughed, "but I do have a reason. Let's get out of here and I'll explain."

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Aang looked around at the much emptier Throne Room, which no longer held the large feast table where they had first dined with Bumi. His now old childhood friend walked to his Throne and seated himself with a groan.

"I really wish I was a young man again, I'll be feeling that duel for a week," Bumi sighed. "Aang, you have a difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone and not for the better. I assume you know what fate befell the Air Nomads?"

Aang bowed his head, feeling the pain and burning in his heart at the mere mention of his slain people.

"We told him as much as we knew," Katara spoke for her friend. "And we went to the Southern Air Temple."

"That can't have been easy to see," Bumi said sadly. Aang wiped his eyes of the silent tears he had shed and focused on what his friend was saying. "But you are alive Aang, which by itself is a huge blow against the Fire Nation's plans. Your duty now, as the Avatar, is to restore balance to the world by mastering the four elements and defeating Fire Lord Ozai. That is me talking to you as the King of Omashu, but as your friend…kick that mad man's butt!"

"I will." Aang clasped his hands together and bowed.

"You'll need your friends to help defeat the Fire Nation. But I'll also do everything in my power to help you on your journey." Bumi clapped his hands twice. A tall man walked into the Throne room, dressed in simple light brown open cut robes with pants, tunic, and rough shoes. He carried a large backpack and walked with a simple wooden staff that was as tall as he was. His face was hidden by a wide rimmed bamboo hat and long black hair hung from within it. He raised his head and Aang recognized him as one of the guards that had escorted him to the challenges.

"Say hello to your new bodyguard Aang," Bumi smirked. "His name is Captain Ye Haowen."

Aang blinked in astonishment as the Captain walked forward and knelt on one knee. "I am honored to be pledged to your service, Avatar Aang."

"Uh, Bumi," Aang clutched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I can take care of myself, as can Sokka and Kataara."

"Of course you can," agreed Bumi. "So can I, then why do you think I keep these lummocks around me?" He gestured to the other guards in the room.

"You're the King?"

"No, because even I can be outnumbered and I don't have eyes on the back of my head," Bumi tapped the area in question. "The Captain knows the enemy and has fought the Fire Nation for the last fifteen years. He's a Master with that staff of his and is pretty fair with a bow too. He's also carrying enough money to feed and supply you for a year."

"Wow, thanks Bumi. Can he teach me Earthbending too?"

"I'm not an Earthbender, Avatar Aang," Captain Ye answered.

Aang sighed in disappointment.

"In any event, your first element to master is Water, Earth and then Fire. There is a good reason for that order," Bumi shook his head, and then smirked. "The Captain will also help you in _many_ other ways, which he will explain as time goes by. Now, remember when you face Ozai…think like a mad genius!"

"Thank you for your wisdom and gifts. But before we leave, I have a challenge for _you_!"

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Ye stood next to Sokka and Katara on the palace steps, and they watched with amusement and a hint of trepidation at the sight of the King and Aang barreling down the delivery system in a stone cart with exhilaration.

"Only King Bumi," Ye sighed with fond exasperation. He turned to the two teenagers, suddenly serious. "What arts of defense are you proficient in?"

"I'm a Waterbender Captain, though I still haven't found a Master to teach me properly. That's one of the reasons why I'm going with Aang to the North Pole," Katara explained.

Sokka looked uncomfortable. "I'm not a Bender, but my dad taught me to fight with a machete and a boomerang."

"Hmmm, it seems I already have another job on my plate," Ye mused. "Oh, and don't call me Captain…only Ye. Before we leave, I'm going to take you to the Merchant quarter, get you each a basic pair of swords, which I will be training you both in."

"Really?" Sokka's eyes went wide with excitement. "But what about Aang?"

"He has his staff; I'll train him in the advanced forms for it that I know. I'm sure he has a few things to teach me as well."

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Aang looked back as the gigantic stone doors of the Omashu city were bent to become part of a single solid featureless wall. He felt rather sad as it happened, it would've been so nice just to spend a week or so with his old friend, but time and his conscience wouldn't allow it. Every day delayed in mastering the elements was another day of war in which a lot of people were dying. He turned around and hurried along the expansive bridge to catch up with his friends and their newest companion. They were busy hauling a cart of purchased supplies up the trail to where Appa was waiting.

Aang was curious as to how his new 'bodyguard' would react to Appa. Their other animal companion, Momo, had already approved of their new addition and had claimed a perch on the tall Earth Kingdom warrior's shoulder.

"Your Flying Lemur is a spirited little one," commented Ye with a smile as he fed Momo a berry, while pulling the cart along with a rope.

"That's Momo," agreed Kataara with a nod, adjusting the strap of her new sword awkwardly so that it fit better.

Sokka was pushing the cart from behind, and he occasionally slipped as he was constantly trying to look at his sword that was sheathed across his back. Aang didn't know how to feel about the weapons, it was good that they had them if they were attacked, but only when both his friends were reasonably proficient in wielding them. Right now, the swords were as much a danger to their owners as they were to any enemy. Aang was thankful though that Ye would be a rather strict Master in his instruction to Katara and Sokka.

_"You are never to draw these swords unless you are practicing with me. You are never to use them in battle until I say you are ready. The mere presence of a sword is provocative, and if I say you leave them in your packs, you will leave them in your packs."_ This was his foreboding instructions as they had bought the swords from an Armorer in the Merchant quarter.

Aang sped up a bit to walk next to Ye, they were nearing Appa's location.

They turned off the path and it became a struggle to pull the cart. They walked around a couple of large bushes and the large white furred form of Appa came into view.

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The Sky Bison was the height of two men put together in its resting position, its six thick furred legs tucked in under its body. It's large horned head that was patterned with a thick arrow similar in shape to Aang's on its forehead pointed directly between two beady black eyes and its wet snout. The brown arrow line ran along is back all the way to the end of its large flat paddle tail, and a large round saddle that could easily accommodate fifteen people was harnessed on its back. The ten ton animal raised its head as it approach and sniffed the air.

"You're amazing," Ye shook his head, carefully approaching the front of the huge animal. "I learned about Sky Bisons in school, mostly legends but…"

"Appa, this is Ye, he's going to be joining us to help and protect us," Aang said, whilst stroking the soft fur of his friend.

Appa turned to face Ye.

Ye met the large eyes in front of him unflinchingly, and couldn't help but smile with exhilaration. Appa grunted in a comforting rumble and opened his huge mouth to give a very wet lick that covered Ye from nearly head to toe in the Bison's saliva.

The teenagers all laughed at the sight.

"Appa likes you too it seems," Aang laughed.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you too, my new big friend," Ye sighed with amusement and pulled out a cloth to wipe his face clean. "We've got a bit of extra weight for you to carry today including me. But I'll be sure to scout for forage for you, as it seems you don't eat meat judging from your teeth."

Appa grumbled in agreement.

"Good. Aang, I just want to make it clear here that _you_ are the Avatar. I will advise you and make suggestions, but you are the one who must choose our course. Oh, and do remember that if I'm to be your bodyguard that you notify me before you fly off anywhere with that glider. So that if you land in trouble we know where to fly and get you out of it."

"Okay," the Avatar agreed easily with big grin.

"I can already foresee that my time with you will be as _interesting_ as my days in King Bumi's guard," the warrior sighed with a mild smile, "well, let's get these supplies loaded, it's a long way to the North Pole."

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	2. Chapter 2 Imprisoned

**Chapter 2**

**Earth Kingdom**

**2nd Day, 3rd Lunar Month, 99ASC**

Ye carefully flitted through the forest being careful not to disturb the earth and plants around him too much as he passed. It had initially been a rather amazing few days with Aang. The experience of flying on Appa as the earth passed below had been truly exhilarating. It was a feeling of freedom; the likes of which he had never even contemplated could exist. It almost seemed like a crime to have to come back down to earth, but Appa needed his rest and food too.

The distance the Sky Bison could cover in just eight hours of flight was roughly four hundred and eighty Li. Aang had said that it was actually quite a sedentary pace for Appa, and it was only so slow because of the extra weight of their supplies, plus the fact that he had three people who couldn't Airbend on his back. The Bison could cover a single Li in moments if it was truly necessary, but both Appa and Aang would have to cooperate to Airbend a stable area of air, so they wouldn't be blown off and out of the large saddle, but doing so constantly was tiring. Four hundred and eighty Li was still a terrific distance covered for only a single day.

He was brought back out of his thoughts by the sight of a bush of the specific plant he was looking for, the root of which was highly nutritious and most importantly, wasn't meat. It was sometimes truly a frustrating thing that Aang didn't eat meat. It was the easiest thing for Ye to take his bow and quiver of arrows for a hunt to find a chicken pig or a fox antelope. Ye made a careful sweep of his surroundings before bending down and digging out the roots with a knife.

He quickly stuffed the roots into a bag and rushed off again. He really didn't like leaving Aang, not here in occupied territory, but only Sokka was skilled in hunting and only as it applied to living in the South Pole and he had no knowledge of the local plant life. It was another fifteen minutes before he whistled in a distinctive manner to alert his charges that he was approaching. He climbed a large stone and dropped a few feet away from their campsite close to a small stream.

He was gratified to see that all three teenagers were engaged in katas, Sokka and Katara with their swords, and Aang was carefully practicing movements from the Ba Gua Zhang style. It was only as he got closer that he saw that none of them had any significant amounts of sweat on their brows. They had at least started to roast their salt preserved meat over the campsite's smokeless fire.

Ye sighed, dropping the bag. "Good, you can keep it up until the meat is finished cooking." It was quite comical to see Sokka's face at his instruction.

"I told you, Sokka," Aang laughed as he whirled into a new form, fending off imaginary opponents.

"I just want to get some food in me before I train," he complained.

"You never know _when_ you'll have to fight, Sokka," Ye sat down and turned the meat over. "The enemy won't politely send a messenger hawk informing you beforehand, therefore you need to train in various bodily states; hungry, thirsty, rested, tired, and eventually even with a stomach full of food. You have to know and understand how your body reacts differently in these states, so if you're ever ambushed in a surprise attack, the enemy's advantage is lessened."

Sokka's eyebrows rose in astonishment, "Oh, I always thought that Masters and Teachers did that just to torture their students."

"No, well, I suppose it depends on the Master…the old ones usually also get a vindictive pleasure out of it because they're bored," Ye grumbled, as he began to pull out roots and peel them with a knife. "One of my old teachers had me eat a veritable feast, and then proceeded with a surprise full-contact spar session. I had to especially protect my stomach and limit my offense to only counter-attacks, and no flashy jumping or kicks, as I was likely to throw up. I actually did throw up when he managed to get a hit on my abdomen…"

Katara shuddered at the thought, "Eewwlll."

"I actually managed to control my retching enough to hit my Master in the face with it," Ye laughed at the memory.

Aang snickered. "I can't imagine doing that to my old Ba Gua Master. Did you get disciplined?"

Ye grinned, "My Master praised me for my innovativeness, and then promptly assigned me to wash his clothes and the rest of the barracks for a month."

It was at that moment that loud rumble disrupted the calm of the forest; sending birds skittering out of their perches in the trees and leaves tumbling from the branches. They all whirled on their feet and frantically scanned for the source of the disturbance. Appa raised his head and grumbled a bit at the noise for disrupting his nap.

Sokka reflexively reached for his boomerang. "What was that?"

Another huge sound pierced through the forest canopy.

Ye felt it clearly rumbling through the earth as well. "An Earthbender, there might be a battle happening nearby," he snatched up his bow and quiver, notching an arrow in it.

Aang focused and then pointed. "It's coming from over there!" Both he and Katara dashed off in that direction. Ye cursed and ran after his charge. Their run led them further down the river bed, until they spotted movement ahead and felt another rumble through the earth. The four of them fell behind the nearest solid looking cover and looked down.

The Earthbender turned out to be a young man, and thankfully there wasn't any battle to speak of, he was just practicing his art. Katara watched with fascination at the strong hand techniques being used and his solid horse stance. The earth rumbled and a boulder shot out of the river bank to come to hover just inches from the young man's fist, a turning movement resulted in the same boulder being hurled against the other bank with crushing force.

"Stay put," Ye forced both Aang and Katara back to a crouch when it seemed they were going to charge ahead. "You don't want to go out there. Firstly, it's rude to interrupt bending training and dangerous, for both him and you. Secondly, we're in Fire Nation occupied territory, and they suppress bending wherever they can. He won't want anyone to have seen him."

"If that's the case," whispered Sokka, "then shouldn't he _not_ be making such noise?"

"He probably made sure he's far enough away from his village," Ye reasoned. "Come, let's leave him."

They retreated back to their campsite, listening to the occasional rumble and thump through the earth as they ate their breakfast.

Aang looked both thoughtful and troubled as he ate his now roasted juicy roots. "Just how many villages are under Fire Nation control in this province?"

Ye reached into his pack and pulled out a large scroll which he unfurled to reveal a map of the world. He put his finger on the coast of southern Earth Kingdom. "We're here. All the red marked dots are villages, settlements and small cities under Fire Nation control."

Sokka gaped at the map. "The entire western end of the Earth Kingdom is practically overrun! My dad told me it was bad, but I never thought that it would be _this_ bad."

"Probably trying to spare you from the harsh reality of it," Ye explained. "Only strongly fortified cities like Omashu is capable of holding out, and you can see it's the southern end of the main line of defense all the way up to the Northern territories. But the Kingdom can't keep a solid defense; we'd be spread too thin. That's why the Fire Nation can pretty much march unopposed anywhere. But they don't do anything more than company sized attacks deeper in the Kingdom, because they'd expose their supply lines and flanks to attack from the strongholds."

Sokka looked puzzled. "Why doesn't the Fire Nation Navy simply go around your defense? Keep their troops supplied that way."

"Coal," Ye answered simply. "They need a lot of it to keep those metal monsters going on the ocean. They have enough trouble keeping their overwater supply lines to the Kingdom going. Our strategy has always been to deny them seizing supplies and food from within the Kingdom itself, and deny them coal from our own mines by sabotaging them. It's really easy for a well trained Earthbender to seal a mine, so that it forces the Fire Nation to spend years and years digging to reopen it."

"I think we should go to the village of this Earthbender we saw," Aang finally declared.

Ye nodded. "Very well. But what do you wish to accomplish there?"

"I dunno…perhaps see if we can do anything to help."

"Then we must see about making you less conspicuous."

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Aang scratched the itch on his head underneath the bamboo hat that Ye had borrowed him, and stared at the gloves covering the Airbender tattoos on the back of his hands. Thankfully, his normal monk clothes were ordinary enough not to stand out and he only needed to tuck in the small earth brown overcoat into his collar. It was rather hot for gloves and his hands were sweaty underneath them.

The nearest village it turned out was nearly twenty Li north-west and was just a few minutes walk from the coast. It was situated in a steep valley and had a high set of walls surrounding it. It hadn't done much to keep the Fire Nation out, as a few sections had clearly been crushed and blasted away, and there was no village gate. The people inside went about their business normally, but Aang could see in their faces and body language that this was not a happy place.

"Aang," Katara whispered, "look ahead, the red walled food store." He scanned the street and indeed, the young Earthbender they had seen was walking into a building up ahead. "I'm going to talk to him."

Ye coughed to gather their attention and titled his head to direct their attention up another street, where a group of four Fire Nation soldiers in their black and red armor was walking into another shop. "Follow me, I will begin a conversation with the merchant inside, and do be subtle about asking the young man, Katara. Sokka, keep an eye on the street."

They entered the store with Ye in the lead. The store was actually quite small, with shelves on the walls filled with jars of spices, preserved foods, barrels filled with water and ales. The young Earthbender was talking to the merchant; a short woman in her middle years.

"Hi, Mom."

"Where have you been, Haru? You're late," the woman said sternly.

"Just been out for a morning run," Haru replied, fidgeting nervously with his long black hair.

"Hmph," the woman was skeptical. "Get started on your chores. I've got customers."

"Greetings," Ye bowed to her. "Can I enquire what spices you have that would aid in helping flavor potato roots?"

"Certainly, sir. I think you'll find..."

Aang walked with Katara over to Haru, who was now busy rearranging jars of spices and weighing them, before writing on a manuscript.

"Hi there," Katara smiled at him.

"Oh hi," Haru greeted, his eyes looking appreciatively at her. "New in town?"

"Passing through…with our, er…Master."

"Really? What's he teach?"

"The staff and sword," Aang spoke up when he saw Katara taking that little bit too long in weighing her answer. He stepped forward and whispered, "So where did you learn bending?"

Haru stiffened and nearly dropped a spice jar. "Uh, you must have confused me with someone else."

"It's okay we're not going to tell," Katara mumbled urgently. "We are benders ourselves. We saw you practicing in the riverbed."

Haru looked angrily at them and blew some loose hair out of his eyes. "Just great, will you please not tell my mom. She'll go crazy. Earthbending is forbidden and I'll be arrested by the Fire Nation if caught." Aang looked over his shoulder and saw that Ye was still keeping Haru's mother rather busy discussing the merits of certain spices and foods in combination.

"Guys, Fire Nation," Sokka warned from his position beside the door. Aang and Katara abruptly straightened and tried to act as naturally as possible.

"So do you go for a…run often?" she asked, just as a Fire Nation soldier entered the shop.

The tall soldier was seemingly an officer, judging from his age, and he scowled at the interior of the shop as he surveyed it. The small moustaches on either side of his mouth twitched as he smirked at the owner.

"What do you want?" the mother came forward indignantly. "I've already paid you this week."

"The tax just doubled," the soldier shook his head and held his hands over each other…flame burst into being in between them forming into a distinct fireball. "Wouldn't want an accident, would we? Fire is sometimes so hard to control."

Haru's mother lost her defiance in an instant, instead now showing fear and resignation. With a bowed head she walked into a back room of her shop and returned with a small chest, placing it on a table in front of the soldier. He extinguished his fireball and greedily opened it but was disappointed with the meager contents. He took what little gold and silver coins there were and chucked the bronze ones onto the floor in disgust. "You can keep the copper ones."

He promptly walked out and rejoined his subordinates and moved further down the street.

"Nice guy," Sokka declared with sarcasm.

"How long have they been extorting money, Madam Rui?" Ye asked.

"For three years," Rui said bitterly as she put the coins back into the chest. "It's not enough that our village's mines are fueling Fire Lord Ozai's ships, now we're even financing the war against our own country."

"Your coal mines are open?" Ye asked in shock.

"Yes," Rui replied. "They captured all the Earthbenders of our village, and forced them to reopen the mine. They threatened to herd us all into a single building and burn it down if they didn't do it."

"They're thugs, not soldiers; they steal from us, and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it," Haru opinioned angrily.

"Quiet, Haru. Don't talk like that."

Ye frowned in thought and walked over to Haru placing a friendly hand on his shoulder. "You should listen to your mother. The Fire Nation could arrest you for inciting rebellion, what would she do without you? Anyway, I always find a good _run_ relaxing perhaps you should do so. Come my students, the road awaits."

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The next morning found Aang sitting with the rest of his companions in the same river bed where they had first observed Haru.

"Are you sure he's going to come?" Sokka asked as he slowly practiced a form with his sword.

"He will," Ye asserted simply, looking at the position of the early morning sun and leaning on his staff.

There was a rustling of bushes nearby and they all stood to face it. Aang had had his own doubts about whether Haru would come, but was hopeful nevertheless. They didn't really need him for their plan, but the young man had seemed truly unhappy with the plight of his village, and Ye had said to trust in the stubbornness of youth.

Haru emerged and looked warily at the four of them, settling into a ready stance so he could bend at any moment. "Who are you?"

"My name is Ye, this is Katara, Sokka, and Aang. We want to see if we can't do anything about that open coal mine."

"It's pointless; they'd just bring some of the captured Earthbenders in to reopen it."

"What if the Earthbenders were to escape?"

Haru shook his head. "No one knows where they're taken. They could be anywhere…"

"Not anywhere," Ye shook his head. "Earthbenders are always imprisoned away from their element. The Fire Navy maintains shipyard rigs along the western coast. The prisoners are surrounded by metal and water below, and are thereby powerless against any Firebenders."

Haru asked hopefully, "Do you know where these rigs are?"

"Not precisely, but we can find out."

"How?"

"We need to know for sure where any prisoners captured in this area are taken, so one of us needs to be arrested for Earthbending. We then follow the ship transporting any prisoners to the specific rig."

"I'll do it," Haru said instantly.

"Our plan was to have you do a bit of Earthbending around me so the blame would fall on my shoulders, to say that these prison rigs aren't the best of places is a huge understatement," Ye explained gravely.

"My father is among those captured when the Fire Nation came. He and the other earthbenders were outnumbered ten to one, but they fought back anyway. He forbade me to help, saying I was too young, but not anymore. If I can help get him and the others out, I'll do it," Haru clenched his fists with determination. "But even if you find the rig, how are we going to get the prisoners out?"

"We've got that part well in hand, Katara is also a Waterbender and she can be of some help out there. We're going to be bringing some earth along for the prisoners to use," Aang grinned in satisfaction.

Haru blinked. "Do you guys have a boat somewhere?"

"Something _much_ better."

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The coal mines were just six Li from the village and were accessed by a tunnel system that had been earthbent into existence. Aang watched from their lookout position among the trees a good distance away. It was mid-day and all the workers were outside the mine and eating their lunches. It said something about the Fire Nation that they only had two guards watching over the workers and what they did. The people were so fearful and cowed that there was no need station a garrison force to make sure coal was mined. They were imprisoned by their own fear.

"I don't like this."

"Sokka, that's the fifth time you've said that, we understand," Aang blew out an exasperated breath. "But it makes sense for Katara to go with Haru. Personally, I think she just wants to make sure he's safe when they're on the rig."

"Her waterbending is not exactly something she can reliably use in a fight yet," Sokka pointed out.

"But it's better than nothing, Sokka."

Ye interrupted by pointing. "There they are."

Aang looked with anxiousness as both Katara and Haru emerged from the tree line and walked straight for the mine entrance. The two Fire Nation soldiers were too deep in their own boredom and meals to really pay proper attention to their charges, but the workers noticed when Katara and Haru settled into horse stances and struck their fists at the mine. There was a rumbling through the earth and the entrance collapsed completely, showering the workers in dust. The two soldiers were initially astonished at what just happened, but they recovered quickly. Fireballs instantly sprung to life in their hands and they charged for Haru and Kataara, who promptly surrendered.

"Well, that's done," Ye commented as the two were led away in chains. "Sokka and I will follow. Aang, meet us with Appa four Li north of the port."

"Right."

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Aang twisted and pulled Appa's reigns, directing the Sky Bison above an intermittent layer of clouds that would obscure them from the Fire Navy ship travelling a good distance ahead of them on a steady western course. He'd already had to slow down and let the ship gather more distance than he really felt comfortable with, but they couldn't let the lookouts on the ship spot Appa either. If they lost that ship, then Katara would be doomed until they could have Ye arrested for earthbending somehow. His anxiousness must have been picked up by Appa because the Bison started gaining some significant speed.

"Easy Aang, easy," Ye advised. "Those Fire Navy ships have telescopes that let them see quite far if they're looking in our direction. They especially have them on the rear of the ship since they don't have a lot of catapults that fire into the rear. They don't want anyone sneaking up on that area."

Sokka frowned. "Really. How do you know that?"

"The Earth Kingdom has a Navy too. Though these days we don't dare attack Fire Navy ships with them. They'd get sent to the bottom of the ocean in short order."

"Why is that?" Aang wondered curiously.

"Firstly, the Kingdom's Navy only numbers a quarter of the total ships the Fire Nation has and only a few of them are ironclad. Secondly, Kingdom ships can never be as fast as their opponents, as we don't have an engine room full of firebenders who can send more flame into the coal burners at a moment's notice. Then there's the weaponry…the Fire Nation's catapults can throw burning projectiles filled with blasting jelly that explodes violently when it hits its target. We can do the same, but our catapults and trebuchet's don't have the strength to launch them at the range that the Fire Nation does.

"Also their ship's metal armor is very thick. We can damage the more thinly armored upper sections and the deck weapons though, and kill a lot of the crew that way, forcing the ship to retreat but by then the Kingdom ship would be in flames or blown to pieces. Ideally to destroy a Fire Navy ship we'd swim under the waterline and sabotage it with blasting jelly, or shoot at it from land."

Sokka looked thoughtful. "Why don't you get Waterbenders to flood their ships or freeze the water around the ship?"

"In the beginning of the war, that was tried, but again we can't get the waterbenders close enough fast enough before the ship they're on is destroyed. These days we're lucky to have waterbenders that aid us in healing our wounded. The Masters capable of those feats you mention, Sokka, are all in the North Pole today, and they're kept there for fear that they'd be killed in the war."

Aang took the explanation in thoughtfully while squinting into the horizon. "Look!"

Now visible rising through the sky was a long line of black soot like smoke in addition to the smoke coming from the ship they were following. They moved closer, Aang expertly directing Appa to move from one cloud formation to the next, until they could get a good look.

It was huge. It sat on the ocean like a black, foreboding fortress, from which three huge chimneys emitted the smoke they had seen. The Fire Nation symbol was painted in red along one whole side of the rig.

"Now that is something you don't see every day," Ye grinned mildly. "Appa can swim and float, can't he?"

"Easily," Aang nodded.

"Let's back off and stay within sight of that smoke column, we'll approach with nightfall."

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Aang carefully eased Appa to hover right next to the main platform where the prisoners all slept under the open sky. It was difficult to make out how many there were in the darkness, but the small amounts of starlight reflected off _a lot_ of sleeping forms. Again there were no guards keeping watch directly over them, it wasn't as if they could go anywhere except into the water down below. Aang handed the reins to Sokka and jumped onto the platform, using the air to lower himself quietly to the metal deck.

It didn't take long to find Katara among the sleeping forms; she had placed herself on a thin bamboo mattress near the edge of the platform. He'd actually seen the glint of her Southern Water Tribe necklace in the starlight.

Her long brown hair was loose and she looked very…peaceful and beautiful asleep. Aang really didn't want to interrupt her sleep, but nevertheless carefully nudged her on the shoulder. She stirred for a brief moment before sitting up with a startled gasp.

"Shhhh," Aang winced. "Where's Haru?"

"With his father, I'll go wake him."

Katara carefully stood up and tiptoed off into the darkness. Aang followed her movements as best he could, and made note of the searchlights playing over the shipyard rig from a high tower. They wouldn't be able to get an angle to see Appa, but anyone standing on the edges of the platform, beyond the token wooden fence would be caught in the lights if they stayed too long. Two forms returned in the darkness and Aang waved a hello to a wary Haru.

They snuck back to the edge of the platform. Sokka guided Appa higher carefully. Ye had his bow ready in his hands and scanning the area for any patrolling guard that might see them hovering there.

Aang carefully murmured, "What's the situation?"

"It's bad," Katara whispered. "The people here are even worse off in spirit than the villagers. They just want to sit out the war here. I tried talking the earthbenders into fighting back, but this prison warden is really horrible."

"I tried to convince my dad, but he wouldn't do it. He didn't believe me when I said we could get earth here for them to fight back with," Haru shook his head.

Aang was startled as Ye suddenly notched an arrow, pulled on the drawstring…but didn't fire. "Sorry, thought I spotted movement on the upper platform. Anyway, I think we should relieve Appa of his burden."

Haru nodded and fell into a stance, earthbending the large pile of rocks that they had tied together with thickly woven cloth and rope so that it floated over the fence and onto the platform. Aang could swear that Appa breathed a sigh of relief when the weight was off his back.

"You know, I was thinking that if what we brought isn't enough, then perhaps we could use that," Aang pointed at the tall smoke stacks. "They're burning coal, and it's a type of earth."

"Very good, Aang," Ye grinned in approval. "How are you going to get the coal here though?"

Aang grinned with embarrassment, "I haven't thought of that part yet."

"There has to be a huge deposit of coal at the base of the silo, right?" Sokka queried. "And the whole system is ventilated. Aang just has to close off all the vents except one within the prisoner platform. When he does his airbending, the coal only has one place to go."

They were all startled this time when Ye tensed and in a flash let loose one arrow and another from his bow. Two Fire Nation soldiers who had come around a corner of the wooden fence on patrol, one of them carrying a lantern, toppled off the platform and fell into the water far below.

Aang felt as if his heart was in his throat as they waited for any sort of alarm to be raised.

After a long minute nothing happened.

Ye sighed to release some tension. "Okay, everyone knows what to do. When those two fail to report back to the guardhouse the alarm is going to be raised. Go."

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Aang was really glad that they had chosen the night to infiltrate the rig; otherwise it would've been impossible to move through the vent system and still be able to breathe. As it was, he was getting soot all over himself and he had to airbend small gusts of air to clear the worst spots. He had entered the system from a grate on the prison platform and headed down, closing any vents in the branches that led off from that specific pipe. It was very slow going and he had to constantly backtrack and draw marks into the soot to mark his path, lest he get totally disorientated.

It was steadily getting hotter as he got closer to the burners, which still held quite a lot of heat. He wished he knew what was happening, but as he had yet to hear any sort of alarm, then things had to be going according to plan.

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Ye was seriously beginning to consider punching some sense into the man in front of him, but he doubted Haru would appreciate someone doing that to his father.

"Your being here will only lead to more suffering," Tyro shook his head.

They had awoken him with the intention to get him clued in to the plan to stage a prison break and commandeer the platform rig and the ships docked there to get back to land. He was less than enthused.

"We brought enough earth for you to mount an attack, and there's even more on the way," Ye said severely. "Any minute now a guard could spot it and you'll just sit on your hands? Do you _want_ to stay here? Leave your wife and village at the mercy of the Fire Nation?"

Ye could see that that had hit the man right at the core.

Katara's voice was soft but firm, "Your fate is in your own hands. Take it."

Tyro closed his eyes.

"Dad, we can do this," Haru insisted.

The older man looked up at the starlight shining down. "It would be best if we attacked now…with surprise on our side. Wake everyone up as quietly as possible."

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Aang could go forward no further, he felt like he was in the hottest desert and to go any further would risk being the equivalent of walking into an oven. He headed back to the last maintenance hatch he had seen and turned the wheel handle with a groan of effort and lifted it up. Giving a peek out he saw that he was actually in a very large room where the coal was burned to provide steam to the rest of the facility. No one was there.

Happy to finally get out of the pipes he jumped out and breathed a sigh of relief at the relatively cooler air. He twirled and pulled air around his body to dust off most of the soot that had collected on his clothes.

"Aaaah, that's much better."

An urgent bell suddenly resounded throughout the room and shouts of alarm throughout the corridors as soldiers rushed through them.

"Oh dear, that's my cue." He rushed over to the base of the large silo which must have housed hundreds of tons of coal, and opened the large iron door. Aang took a deep breath, falling into a form, twirling his arms then focusing his mind and calming his emotions; pulling as much air into the room as he could.

"HAI!" he shoved his palms forward.

A continuous powerful blast of air shot into the open door of the silo, he could see the coal being pushed up and out of view. He had to pull more air from elsewhere to feed the blast, but kept going, he refused to fail and let down his friends.

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The battle had begun with Tyro and Haru creating a large boulder and compacting it so much that when they flung it with all the might of their earthbending at the prison door, that it was totally rent from its housing and bent it around the boulder.

Ye charged out first, fighting with his bladed staff and with a left stab and right slash, swiftly dealt with the two guards stationed on either side of the door. This let the nearly three hundred strong force of Earthbenders surge out of their enclosure.

The alarm bell rang urgently over the entire rig.

Fire nation guards, some not even in their armor rushed out from the barracks area to meet them. Already fireballs and blasts were sent streaking down onto the earthbenders, but each had just enough earth to have created a hard disc to shield themselves from it. They closed the distance between their opponents and used the shields to slam the guards senseless, crush them flat, or use the sharpened edges of the earth shield to slash.

Ye felt a rumble through the metal decking as he switched weapons to his bow. "Haru!" The young man had remained with them to use his earth shield to protect Sokka and Katara. "Aang's doing it, channel the coal!"

Haru rushed back as Ye loosed an arrow which stabbed into a guard who had been about to overwhelm a prisoner with fire when his shield had collapsed.

A virtual fountain of coal erupted from the air grate in the prison compound. Haru wasted no time in gathering a huge mound of it and shooting it into the battlefield. Where the beleaguered Earthbenders eagerly ripped it apart to renew their shields and now to shoot the coal as projectiles, allowing them to go on a proper offensive that didn't involve getting close.

Ye gathered Katara and Sokka, and hurried towards the edge of the rig, where Appa and Momo were waiting. They jumped into the saddle with Katara taking the reins.

"Fly around the rig, Sokka and I will take out any guards we can!"

"Yip yip," Katara cried to the Sky Bison.

Ye notched an arrow, carefully scanning the fight, whilst Sokka immediately threw his boomerang to clip a guard on the back of the head, which allowed his Earthbending opponent to gain the upper hand, and the weapon returned to Sokka, who deftly caught it. Momo also contributed by flying around and snatching thrown spears right out of the air.

A Fireball was hurled towards Appa, the Bison nimbly dodged and Ye retaliated by putting an arrow into the attacker.

"Look!" Katara pointed to the high tower overlooking most of the rig. A long haired Fire Nation officer was throwing large exploding fireballs down into the battle. "That's the Warden."

"Him we want alive," Ye grinned and carefully gauged the shot before letting another arrow fly. It buried itself right into the Warden's leg, who went down screaming in pain. "Let's go get him."

Katara nodded and guided Appa to the tower. Ye gathered his bladed staff and leaped onto the balcony of the tower. The Warden was crawling away and even managed to send off another fireball from his hand, despite the pain he must be feeling. Ye dodged and blocked another firestrike with the flat of his blade before pinning the Warden with the other end's blade.

"You are beaten, your men are beaten. Order them to surrender and there need not be more death."

"Never!" snarled the Warden.

"Idiot!" Ye grabbed the man by the collar and picked him up before jumping back onto Appa. "Get us back down to the battle!"

Appa dove down and it seemed Aang had also joined the fight at some point. He was blasting guards and soldiers with air off the platform or knocking them into walls, redirecting fireballs, or even dissipating them entirely.

Ye threw the Warden off once Appa had reached a height so that the fall wouldn't kill the man. It thankfully had the desired effect. The remaining guards, soldiers and other rig personnel whose number was now considerably less than the prisoners stopped in shock. Ye jumped off Appa and brought his staff blade to rest on the neck of the Warden.

"Surrender! You and the wounded will be allowed to live and take one of the ships back to the Fire Nation. Continue to fight and you will die."

It didn't take long, weapons fell to the deck and hands were raised in neutral poses. Most of the remaining Fire Nation on the platform was mostly workers and engineers and despite being firebenders, weren't martially trained and couldn't really compete with Earthbenders in close quarters with glowing hot coal.

"Cowards! Traitors!" screamed the Warden.

Ye grinned. "And as a further incentive, we'll be taking the Warden with us as a prisoner, so you can cook up any story you wish!"

There weren't any objections to that.

Aang watched the shipyard rig fade into the distance as their commandeered Fire Navy ship steamed back to the Earth Kingdom. He turned around and felt a pang in his heart at the sight of the nine covered bodies of the Earthbenders who were killed in the battle. There were also fifty others who had been wounded, but luckily the ship had fully stocked medicine supplies, most of which were tailored to treat burns…since this was Fire Navy ship.

"They died as a result of my choices," Aang turned around to face the prow of the ship. "I wanted to free Haru's village…"

"And they will be free, Aang," Ye insisted. "All of these Earthbenders, on the rig they might as well have been dead, their spirits and hearts crushed under the rule of the Warden. Now they're free, they're alive again, they see hope, they want to take back the lives the Fire Nation stole from them."

"To take back ALL of our villages! The Fire Nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!"

Aang turned around at hearing Tyro's shout to all the Earthbenders on the ship, and the answering cheers and raised fists.

Ye gestured to the jubilations. "See?"

Aang smiled ruefully and nodded. "The monks never trained me to deal with this. I guess I ran away before they could teach me..."

"Then I will try my best in their stead. I am a Captain, a leader of men in battle. I've sent men to their deaths, because I knew to not do so would lead to even greater death and loss. I mourn them and honor their sacrifice every day. As the Avatar what you do and don't do will lead to lives to being saved or lost. There is nothing that can change that fact. Accept it and move on, lest you be paralyzed and then you will _truly_ fail."

Aang tried to bring those words to his heart, but just…couldn't. "It's not fair. I'm just a kid…"

"There is no law in the world that says it has to be fair, Aang," Ye shook his head sadly. "But I think you should take whatever moments you can to be a kid too, nevertheless."

Aang looked up in surprise. "Really?"

Ye laughed and ruffled Aang's head playfully, "Of course, you're still thirteen years old. It'd be stupid to ignore that, everyone has to be a kid sometime in their lives. Tell you what, every day we'll set aside time to do something fun…whatever you, Katara and Sokka want to do, within reason."

Aang couldn't help but grin. "Thanks Ye, for helping."

"You're welcome, kid."

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